


We Could Be Heroes

by idksomethingclever



Category: DCU, Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Pre-Slash, Vague descriptions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 21:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4892134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idksomethingclever/pseuds/idksomethingclever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carol Ferris becomes the Green Lantern instead of Hal Jordan, but that doesn't stop him from getting into trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Could Be Heroes

The thing about Hal Jordan was that he was reckless.

Arrogant.

Stubborn.

Really, take your pick.

Hal Jordan had no illusion of who he was as a person. At this point in his life he’d already torn his family apart, been discharged from the army, and was informally banned from flying in any airfield in the country. He was grounded, forced to fix up planes so that other cocky pilots could fly them the next day.

Bottom meet rock.

\--

“Hal, lunch time,” Tom called out.

Hal grunted, waist deep in wires and mechanical parts. Motor oil had seeped into his pores and he felt like one big mass of grime. “Go on without me,” he yelled back. “I still have to wash up.”

The footsteps drifted away and Hal pulled himself out of the mess of a plane. He’d been working on it for hours and he was still nowhere closer to figuring out what the hell was wrong with it. He futilely wiped his hands on a rag and then tossed it on the ground. 

Planes soared overhead.

Hal knocked his head against the cool metal and sighed. 

Something had to change.

He exited the hanger and went straight to Ken Arden’s office to haggle for a chance to be a pilot again.

Ten minutes later he exited the office, ready to deck the next person who looked at him funny.

Arden not letting him fly again, that he could’ve handled. It wasn’t anything new. He was reckless. He punched Major Stone and got himself discharged. Hell, he’d had been sneaking into Arden’s Aviation even before he’d hit puberty. So, Arden not letting him fly? Incredibly disappointing, but not exactly surprising. 

But Carol Ferris?

Selling out to Carol Ferris?

Hal was furious.

Arden Aviation was the last place Hal had left. He couldn’t go home; his parents were dead and his brothers wouldn’t forgive him for not being there all these years. Nowhere else would hire someone with his record. The only reason Arden hired Hal at all was because he’d flown in the Air Force with Hal’s father. With Arden Aviation gone, Hal would have nothing.

He’d rather have nothing than work for Carol Ferris, the daughter of the man who sent Hal’s father to his death.

When Hal was a kid, he went to Ferris Air to watch his dad test out one of Carl Ferris’ new planes. Hal’s hero had always been his dad. He looked up to him, idolized him. Going to see his dad fly? It was supposed to be amazing. But the plane wasn’t ready to be flown and Carl pushed it for profit. He watched the plane fall out of the sky with his dad still in it. It was the single worst day of his life.

He never forgot it. Would never forgive it.

When Carol had walked through Arden’s office door, she knew exactly who Hal was. She had no sympathy. He didn’t expect her to, considering who her father was. Her father, who was spending his days playing golf down in Florida, Carol said. They were both living the highlife.

He stormed out of the office, leaving Carol and Arden to discuss business plans. He went back to the hanger, got into one of the cockpits, and slammed the door behind him. He rested his head on the instrument panel and closed his eyes.

The anger coursed him. He felt tense with it. His eyes burned with it.

He sat there for hours. He didn’t know what else to do.

\--

The next day he was slogging across the runway, trying to keep himself going on a couple hours of sleep. His body was heavy and he wanted nothing more than to be in his bed. But it was one of his last days of work and he wasn’t going to miss it. Hal might’ve been many things, but he wasn’t a quitter.

He blamed it on his exhaustion why his brain was slow to register the people running away in fear.

It took him a few moments, but he slowly turned around to look behind him. There was a plane, smoke trailing from the engine, coming straight at him.

His body froze, like it didn’t comprehend what was happening. He quickly jerked himself out of it and started to run as fast as his stumbling legs could take it.

The plane was fast.

But someone else was faster. Before it could hit him, the plane was surrounded in green light. It was like a force field, carefully stopping the plane and lowering it to the ground. The green light disappeared and the pilot fell through the door, throwing up as soon as he hit solid ground.

Hal saw the woman before his brain could catch up. She was wearing a weird uniform, the body green, the limbs black, with white gloves. There was an ethereal glow around her and if Hal was a romantic, he’d describe her as angelic. 

They stared at each other, like they were both caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

“Uh, thanks,” he said, at a loss.

She hastily nodded and fixed her hair, which was impressively windblown. “You’re welcome.”

They stared at each other some more.

He scratched his head. “Do you...save people often?”

“This is my first time, actually.”

A crowd started to form and any moment the crash site would be swarmed.

Hal threw out a lazy salute. “Well, thanks for saving my ass. Keep up the good work.” He slipped away into the crowd.

Commotion sprung up around him, everyone wanting to know more about the woman in emerald. Another superhero. It was good, Hal supposed. The world needed more heroes.

\--

Carol Ferris was missing. It had been a week.

Ken Arden couldn’t sell to someone who wasn’t around to buy.

Satisfaction never came.

Hal zoned out while fixing a minor engine problem. He didn’t particularly like Carol, from their shared history. But that didn’t mean he wanted her missing. Or dead. Damn, he hoped she wasn’t dead. He remembered her, when they were both young and snot-nosed. They had met at that disastrous air show and they were so proud of their fathers. Both naive to the disaster that was to come.

He scraped his finger against a bit of sharp metal. 

“Damnit,” he muttered, holding a rag to the small cut. He was going to get tetanus or something at this rate.

He threw the rag to the ground and walked back to the locker rooms. No one was going to miss him if he left work early. He changed, got into his car, and sped off.

He didn’t even know where he was going. He drove around, trying not to think of everything that was going wrong in his life. It didn’t work. It never did.

Eventually, he ended up at the cemetery. He turned of the engine and sat for a few minutes. A visit to his mom and dad wouldn’t hurt. Maybe it would even calm the storminess inside him. His dad always did make him feel safe. 

It was chilly this time of year. He hugged his dad’s flight jacket closer. The trees circling the cemetery were turning red and brown and a couple of squirrels chased each other around a gnarled trunk. Fall was in the air, or some artistic shit like that. He found his parents’ graves and brushed away some of the fallen leaves.

“Hey, dad. Hey mom,” he whispered. “Long time no see.”

It wasn’t a long conversation. He was there for half a minute when the entire back off the nearby mortuary exploded and, for the second time in a week, something big and heavy flew at him. Unfortunately, a savior in green wasn’t in time to catch it. A tall, greasy black haired man collided with Hal and they both went tumbling into the graves.

Hal laid under the man, winded and extremely confused. His vision was doubling and he had a little trouble breathing.

“Hal!” someone cried.

“Carol?” Hal mumbled. He pushed the unconscious man off him with a grunt and tried to sit up. His breathing evened up once the weight was off his chest, but his head was killing him. Blood trailed down his forehead. 

Sounds of a battle finally reached him. He looked up and saw what he could only describe as a giant red monster. Or alien. Carol and a magenta-skinned man circled it, both in defensive stances.

“What now, Sinestro?” Carol asked. “Atrocious used that device to empty our rings of their charge.” 

Sinestro? Atrocious? Was this real life? 

Sinestro lunged at the monster. “Now we see what you’re made of without that ring.” Carol followed his example.

Hal sat on the wet ground, the unconscious man next to him, as Carol fought alongside an alien while battling another. She was wearing jeans and not the skirt Hal had last seen her in, which probably made it a little easier to fight a gigantic superpowered alien. 

Hal heaved himself off the ground, just as Atrocious got Carol in the ribs and knocked her across the cemetery. “Hey!” Hal yelled. Atrocious turned and ran towards him. Oops. Hal swung a punch and all he did was almost break his hand. Atrocious backhanded him into a tree.

“Idiot!” Hal heard Sinestro say. It was most definitely aimed at him. Hal didn’t much care at the moment. All his attention was focused on not throwing up.

Carol was back in the fight now. She and Sinestro crouched behind a tombstone and exchanged a serious glance.

“I hope you have a trump card,” Carol said.

“It’s your lucky day, earthman-”

“Woman.”

“I carry a spare lantern in a pocket dimension.” Sinestro shoved his fist into thin air and pulled out a glowing lantern. The green rings on Carol and Sinestro’s hands glowed and, with a flash of light, they were both clad in the familiar green and black uniform.

“The fuck,” Hal muttered.

“You couldn’t have pulled that out earlier?” Carol snapped.

Sinestro created a forcefield to block the tree Atrocious threw at him. “I wanted to see how you fought.”

Carol grunted as she hit Atrocious with a construct of a jet. “I don’t care about your judgement.” 

It didn’t take long for Carol and Sinestro to wrap up the fight. All Hal could do was watch. That seemed to be the running theme of his life.

When they were done, Sinestro and Carol sized each other up.

Sinestro eyed her shrewdly. “Congratulations. You survived and your ring did not seek a replacement.”

Carol crossed her arms across her chest. “I think I did a bit more than survive.”

Sinestro raised an eyebrow in response. He secured Atrocious in green bindings. “We have protocols to follow. We will head back to Oa immediately and report this to the Green Lantern Corps.”

Carol made a slashing motion with her hand. “I never said that I was doing this. I have a life here. I can’t run off because you told me to.”

“Yeah,” Hal echoed. “You heard the lady.”

Both Sinestro and Carol looked back at him as if they both forgot he was there.

He waved from his prone position on the ground. “There’s a guy next to me, too. In case you also forgot about that.”

“What did Atrocious want with William Hand, anyway?” Carol asked Sinestro.

“Superstitious nonsense about power and bloodlines,” Sinestro answered.

Carol knew there was something Sinestro wasn’t telling her, but she shook her head and headed towards Hal. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going with you. You can return to Oa and tell them to find someone else.”

Before Sinestro could respond, Carol picked Hal up and flew them away. 

It was an interesting experience, to say the least.

Carol brought Hal to her house. She settled him down on the couch and depowered her ring. It was almost as if the past hour never happened.

“So, Green Lantern, huh?” Hal said.

“Yep.” She popped the ‘p.’ “But not for long.”

“Why the hell not?”

“I don’t know, Hal,” Carol said, a little angry. “I have a business to run. I can’t run off and play superhero.”

“Why can’t your dad do it?” Hal was getting angry, as well. “He’s shown how important money is to him.”

“My dad’s dead!” Carol yelled. Hal startled back. Carol was breathing heavily, glaring at him. 

Hal opened and closed his mouth. “You said he was golfing. In Florida.”

“I lied.”

“Oh,” Hal finally settled on.

“Yeah, oh.”

The anger faded and Carol slumped into an armchair. She rested her forearms on her knees and exhaled heavily. Hal knew what it felt like to lose a father.

“When did he pass?” Hal asked.

“Last month.” Carol stared at the wall. “You know, your father was dad’s best friend. The guilt over his death ate at him for years. And then,” Carol sighed, “he finally just let go.”

“And you’ve been running Ferris Air?”

“What else was I supposed to do? This is my father’s legacy. I couldn’t let it die.” She leaned back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling. “I can’t just leave.”

“Carol,” Hal said, leaning forward. “You have the chance to literally save the world. The universe. What’s cooler than that?”

“This isn't about what’s cool. This is about responsibility. Something you-” Carol cut herself off, but they both knew what she was about to say. She looked away and rubbed her arm. “I’m sorry, Hal-”

“Don’t be. Seriously. We both know that it’s true. I’ve never held up my end of responsibility in my life.” Hal stared at the floorboards. Wasn’t that the gist of it. After his dad died, his mom banned Hal from becoming a pilot. All she wanted to do was protect him and Hal repaid her by running away to the Air Force the day he turned eighteen. That’s what he did, wasn’t it? Make a mess of things.

Carol shook her head. “This isn’t about your past. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

Hal shrugged. “Yeah, well.”

“Anyway,” Carol soldiered on. “I have a business to run. A failing business, but it’s no matter. I’m not going to back out of that.”

“Hear me out,” Hal said. “You have a chance here to save everyone. Be a literal superhero. This goes beyond Ferris Air. This is about what’s right.”

Carol groaned. “You’re not listening. I can’t just give up my father’s legacy. I thought out of everyone, you’d understand.”

Hal did understand. He chased the ghost of his father into the Air Force because, at the time, nothing else felt more important.

Carol was ambitious, daring, and stubborn. But she was also defined by her love. She loved her father so much, despite his mistakes. Leaving Ferris Air behind would feel like a betrayal to his memory.

“We’ve known each other most of our lives,” Hal started.

“We spoke to each other once when we were children and then had no contact until last week.”

“But I know you, Carol,” Hal stressed. “If you sit back and let people die, you’ll never forgive yourself. You have too much love in you to keep it holed up.”

“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. I do. But back off.” Her voice took on the no-nonsense tone that made her a great businesswoman. Hal spent his entire life pushing limits, but he knew this wasn’t the time to carry on the tradition.

Hal nodded. “Just think it over, okay? If I see you at Arden Aviation tomorrow, I’ll know to never mention it again.”

Carol heaved herself off the armchair. “Okay, Hal. But don’t hold your breath. Come on, I’ll drop you off back at your car. Hopefully Sinestro’s gone by now.”

\--

Carol didn’t show up the next day.

After work, Hal went back to her house. A note with a key taped to it was partially shoved under the door. 

Hal,

Can you pop in a couple times a week to water my plants?

Thanks. For everything.

Carol  
\--

Ken Arden ended up selling to someone else. Hal didn’t know them personally, but it didn’t matter to him. They let him keep his job and his days continued as they had been.

Sometimes, Hal let himself be angry. At the world, at Carol for leaving. He tried to quell the feeling when it appeared. He was the one who supported Carol’s life as an intergalactic space cop. 

Carol would periodically show up in the news. She saved the day several times and sometimes with the help of the newly formed Justice League. She never dropped by, but Hal didn’t begrudge her for it. Carol didn’t do things halfway, she didn’t have time to humor him.

He missed her, though.

Over the next few months, nothing exciting happened. Hal fixed planes. Hal got covered in motor oil. Hal ate lunch with Tom and sassed rude pilots.

Life went on as usual, until aliens invaded the city and the Batmobile crashed into the side of Hal’s apartment building.

\--

So, Hal was minding his own business, eating a lackluster dinner in front of the nightly news. Another boring Thursday night.

And then aliens invaded.

He watched through his apartment window as buildings crumbled in the distance. There were three giant spacecrafts in the distance, with countless smaller alien spaceships flying around the city. He pressed his hands against the glass, dinner abandoned on the table. There was nothing he could do.

Green flashed in the distance.

Carol.

He smiled and life pumped through his veins again. He turned from the window and ran to grab his car keys. He wouldn’t do much good against an alien army, but he could help evacuate bystanders. Or something.

Whatever, he’d figure it out on the way.

He took the stairs two at a time and burst through the front doors.

He didn’t take two steps before a black and pointy car crashed into the side of his building. The front of the car was dented and one of the headlights was in pieces. One of the alien ships was closing in on them.

“Oh, shit. Shit,” Hal muttered, as he ran to the car door to help whoever was trapped inside. Right as he got there, the door lifted open and a man dressed in a black head-to-toe suit stepped out. 

The man in the weird ass suit shot something at the alien plane, which sent it off-course and careening to the ground. It crashed, sending chunks of cement flying in all directions. Two armored aliens stumbled out. They were almost human-like, if not for a couple tentacles. The man shot them with a taser as soon as the dust cleared.

“Get to safety,” the man barked at Hal before turning back to the car. For the first time, Hal got a good look at the pointy ears.

“Wait, are you Batman? You work with one of my friends.”

The man, presumably Batman, turned towards Hal with full body exasperation. “Get to safety,” he growled..

If there was one thing Hal did best, it was push it luck. “Do you need a ride or something? The engine might be busted.”

Batman was wearing a mask that covered half his face, but Hal felt the full force of the glare. “I have a ride,” Batman answered before he got back into the car. The door lowered shut and the car roared into life before zipping away.

“What a people person.” Hal looked around at the demolished block. “Get to safety,” he said in a deep, gravely voice. “Where the hell would that be.”

Then he saw the downed alien ship.

And Hal just had to push his luck. It was in his DNA.

He stepped over the fallen aliens and looked into the open door of the ship. It resembled a human jet. In a way. Sort of. There were two seats and something that looked like an instrument panel. There were several buttons and symbols that Hal didn’t recognize.

Hal should’ve walked away, gone back into his building, and finished his dinner. He was about to, he really was. But then he thought of Carol, fighting for the city. It wasn’t really a choice in the end.

He stepped inside the alien spacecraft and the door slid closed behind him. 

“Creepy,” Hal muttered. The interior was lit with eerie blue light and the floor was slightly squishy. He walked towards one of the chair and winced as he sat down in the slightly damp seat. “Please don’t be toxic. Or poisonous. Or alive.” 

Damn, he hoped it wasn’t alive.

He wiggled his fingers and looked at the instrument panel. “Let’s see what we got.” There were red buttons, blue buttons, green buttons. They were all labeled with symbols. There was what looked like a yoke, if he was thinking in abstract terms.

Hal trusted his instinct. He pressed the biggest button there and the instrument panel lit back to life. The wall in front of him became transparent and he could see the demolished city in front of him. The ship rumbled. 

He gripped the yoke in his hands and steadily pulled back. The ship rose a couple feet.

Well then. Let’s get this party started.

He clipped the building a couple times. Nothing too bad. It wasn’t like it started out in one piece, anyway.

Soon he was hovering over the buildings.

It was utterly exhilarating. It didn’t matter that he had no idea what he was doing. Flying again, being in control of something- he missed it so much. He shoved the yoke forward and he zoomed off. His stomach was left behind him as the ship sped soared forward faster than he ever had before. 

He couldn’t hold it in. He whooped and did a flip. Or two.

He zoomed around the city, taking in the damage. Several aliens ships were flying around the city, but many more aliens were on the ground. Carol was in the distance, taking on a group of ships that tried to ambush her. His first instinct was to go help, but she clearly had it handled. Also, with his luck he’d bring him down as well. Instead, he turned to a ship that was shooting at an office building.

When he got there, he quickly realized that he didn’t know how to attack.

Red usually meant danger, right? He crossed his fingers and pressed the closest red button. Two gigantic missiles flew to out and the other ship went down in a cloud of fire.

Hal’s mouth dropped open.

“Oh, now we’re talking.”

He spent the next indeterminate amount of time doing the same thing. He picked off alien ships one by one. Eventually he figured out how to cut through them with lasers. 

Hal saw a battling superhero here and there. The entire Justice League seemed to be out on this one. Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Carol, Aquaman, and Cyborg. He mostly kept out of their way. There wasn’t any way to tell Hal apart from the other alien planes and he didn’t want to meet the sharp end of Wonder Woman’s sword.

Eventually, one of the aliens caught on that Hal wasn’t a member of their species. The back of Hal’s ship got shot out and he fell in a spiral of smoke. He pulled the yoke up, but it was no use. He was going down.

But this wasn’t the first time Hal had to do a crash landing. In fact, over the years he got pretty good at it. He landed the falling plane easy enough. Just some bumps and gaping holes in a few buildings.

The real danger was when he opened the plane door and something sharp flew right past his ear.

In front of him stood Batman and the guy was not happy.

“I thought I told you to get to safety,” Batman barked. He stalked towards Hal and, man, if looks could kill.

Hal shrugged noncommittally. “I thought you were a little...vague.”

“Vague,” Batman echoed. The guy was not impressed. Well, it wasn’t anything Hal hadn’t handled before.

“The spaceship was just laying there, so I thought ‘why not.’”

“You put yourself and everyone around you in danger,” Batman cut in. And then Hal had the pleasure of a having a very angry Bat right in his face. “Get to safety. Now.”

Hal waved a hand at the scene around them. “And where is ‘safety’, exactly? This is a freaking alien invasion.”

Batman wasn’t hearing it. “This is no place for a civilian. Do you have any idea what you could’ve done?”

“From where I’m standing, I just took down a good handful of enemy combatants,” Hal snapped. “And I was in the Air Force. I don’t think I count as a civilian.”

“You could've put everyone around you in danger.” 

Hal groaned. “What, you get to boss everyone around because you’re wearing the Halloween costume? Should I go grab some bunny ears?”

Even Hal could figure out when he pushed someone too far. He was absolutely certain that he as going to get a face full of gauntlet, but either Batman had exceptional self-restraint or the fresh wave of aliens distracted him. They both dove out of the way, just in time to dodge a laser blast.

Batman was very good at combat. He seemed to have an endless supply of those batarangs and tasers. Honesty, he took out most of the aliens by himself. But Hal was able to make himself useful. One of the aliens dropped their laser gun within grabbing distance and Hal scooped it up. He got one that was going to ambush Batman from the back. Batman spared a glance at Hal and had to dodge a blast in consequence. 

After the short skirmish as over, Batman shoved an alien out of the way and strode over to Hal.

“What was that?” he demanded.

“Saving your ass. You’re welcome.”

“I had it under control.”

Hal groaned, for the thousandth time that day. “I know that the manual of how to be dark and broody says that you have to work alone, but you actually don’t.”

Hal could imagine the glare behind the mask. “I want you out of the battle zone and to safety,” Batman said in a no-nonsense tone. “Immediately.”

“Look, dude.” Another Bat-glare. “I know how to fly these things. If I can get a new one, I can help pick them off.”

“You were just shot down not ten minutes ago.”

“It was a lucky shot. You know, I’m a pretty good pilot. And I’m not going to back down just because you told me to.”

Batman didn’t answer for a few moments. Hal felt like a bug under a microscope. 

“Fine,” Batman snapped. “But we’re going to work together so I can keep an eye on you.”

Hal clapped his hands. “Awesome. Just let the others know so that Superman doesn’t accidentally tear me in half.”

Batman grunted. “Go find yourself a spaceship.”

It was a little rough at first, but they quickly worked out a routine. Batman would draw out a group of ground soldiers or ships into the open and then he and Hal would pick them out from the shadows, one from the ground and one from the air. It was effective, although slow going.

In the distance, Hal could see the other members of the Justice League working in pairs or separately. No one was making much headway against the neverending force. Batman seemed to have the same thoughts as Hal and waved Hal down.

“This isn’t working,” Batman said once Hal stepped out of the ship. “The team has to work together.” Batman pressed a finger to his communication device. “We need to regroup,” he said into the comm. “Everyone meet at my coordinates.”

It didn’t take long for the Justice League to come together. Hal had to admit that he felt a little out of place in his jeans and old t-shirt.

“Hal?” someone yelled. 

Hal winced and turned around. “Hey, Carol. How’s it going?”

Carol looked at him like he was crazy. “What the hell are you doing here?” 

“I’m lending a hand.”

Carol zeroed in on Batman. “And you let him stick around?”

Hal could sense a fight beginning. “Carol, I didn’t really give him a choice. You know how I am.”

“Yeah,” Carol sighed. “I know.”

The Flash raised his hand. “So, we’re letting the civilian wade into an alien invasion?”

“Technically, I do have military experience.”

“We’re wasting time,” Batman cut in. “There are three large ships, one of them being the center of command. If we take those out, we can provoke a full-scale retreat. But the units on the ground and air will prevent us from getting too close.”

“Superman, Lantern, and I can attack the three central ships head-on,” Wonder Woman offered. “We have the strength and durability for it.”

“I can help them get inside,” Cyborg said. “Maybe hack into the communication systems.”

“Flash and Aquaman will keep the units on the ground and air distracted.” Batman then turned towards Hal, who was surprised to be involved at all. “You will get me into the mothership.”

“No,” Carol interjected. “Absolutely not.”

“Carol, do you expect me to just sit this out? I’m the only one who knows how to fly these things. I can get in and out of there without raising the alarm.”

Carol threw her arms into the air. “Fine!” She pointed a finger right in Batman’s face. “You are going to get him out in one piece or I will to eviscerate you.”

Batman didn’t flinch. 

Carol turned back to Hal. “Don’t be more of a reckless idiot than you’ve already been.”

“Yeah, sure.” It was a difficult record to beat, but Hal figured he would break it by the end of the day.

The team moved out. Carol brought Hal into a crushing hug before flying away with Superman and Wonder Woman.

Batman watched them carefully. “What’s your history with the Green Lantern?”

“We’re old friends.” He paused. “Wait, you guys know each other’s identities, right? Did I just out her to everyone?”

“We know each other's identities.”

“That’s good. I guess.”

Batman and Hal boarded a ship. Batman grimaced as they entered.

“Yeah, I know,” Hal said. “Not the best interior decorating.”

The plan was that Wonder Woman would make a head-on assault on the command ship while Hal and Batman snuck in. Hal started the plane and got situated. Batman perched in the seat next to him.

Hal pressed a few buttons, which he recently found out controlled atmosphere and altitude. “Why are you letting me do this anyway? I almost expect that you’d have the Flash run me halfway across the country.”

“The Flash’s speed would end up killing you,” Batman said. He watched Hal bring the ship into the air. “And you’d get yourself killed if we left you alone.”

Hal shrugged. “I haven’t died yet.”

“Somehow.”

Hal saw Batman’s slight smirk. He rolled his eyes.

As they approached the belly of the ship, the conversation went silent. The hanger doors opened and they were let inside without a hitch.

Hal was honestly amazed. “I think the same exact thing happens in literally every alien invasion movie.”

Batman’s lips thinned. “Get one of the guns off the alien in the back. We might need it.”

They slowly flew into a large docking area. Alien ships were constantly flying in and out.

Hal landed the ship on the hanger floor, near the back. “How are we going to get past all these? That’s a lot of potential eyes watching.”

Batman stood up and checked the contents of his utility belt. “Get the uniform off the alien and put it on. I can stick to the shadows, but you need to blend in.”

Hal wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

“You’re the one who wanted to come,” Batman said with something that could almost be amusement.

Hal reluctantly pulled the uniform over his clothes while Batman scouted the area from the window.

“Cyborg,” Batman said into his comm. “Can you get locations on any units coming our way?” There was a pause. “We’re near the hangar doors.” An even longer pause. “I’ll keep an ear out.”

“What’d he say?” Hal asked, pulling the last bit of the uniform into place. 

“His technology was able to translate the language and he hacked into the communication systems. He’ll let us know if we have incoming.” Batman turned towards Hal. “There should be no one looking at us at the moment. Get to the set of doors over there as quickly as possible.”

Hal blinked and Batman was gone.

“Warn a guy,” Hal muttered.

Batman was right, no one was looking his way. He made it to the doors and pushed through. Batman was waiting on the other side.

Batman motioned Hal forward. “Let’s go.”

They made their way down the hallways, following Cyborg’s directions. Cyborg was able to steer them clear for the most part and they got by with only a couple of fights. Batman dispatched most of the aliens they encountered, but Hal got a few shots in. Mostly, Hal distracted the aliens while Batman took them out from the shadows.

Eventually, they made it to the main engine room. Hal stayed outside the door while Batman snuck in and planted a small device on a large mechanical structure. Hal was familiar with plane engines, but this was something in a class of its own.

After Batman exited the room, they went back the way they came. They somehow avoided anyone else. Their ship was still there, too. Hal didn’t know what he expected, but he thought it would be a little harder than this to take out an alien command ship.

They boarded the plane and Hal got them out of there as quickly as possible. 

“Wonder Woman,” Batman said into his comm once they were a good distance away. “Get away from the ship. We’re going to detonate.”

Batman pressed a red button on his utility belt and a small portion of the back of the command ship exploded into a plume of smoke. The bomb Batman planted wasn’t big, but it took out the engines and caused the command ship to fall through the air and into the ocean. The other two central ships, which had taken the brunt of Superman and Carol’s strength, limped back into the atmosphere. They let the escape pods from the command ship go free, along with the other retreating aliens.

“Hell yeah,” Hal said, smacking the instrument panel. He held a hand up for a high-five, but Batman ignored him.

“This isn’t going to happen again,” Batman warned.

Hal rolled his eyes and bit back a smile. “Spoilsport.”

Hal landed the plane in the center of a street. He got up and before he could exit the plane, Batman held out his hand. Hal paused before taking the hand and giving it a good shake.

“Nice working with you, Bats.”

Batman nodded and left.

Carol flew down to meet them once Hal came into view.

“I am taking you home right now,” she said, grabbing his arm. The rest of the League wasn’t paying attention.

“Lantern, come back when you’re done and help with cleanup,” Superman called over his shoulder.

Carol picked Hal up like he was a princess. “Sure thing.”

Then they took off. A green forcefield around them stopped any wind or bugs from bothering them.

“Hey, Carol,” Hal said. “Can I have Batman’s number?”

“No.” Carol looked confused, but didn’t bother to ask.

Hal shrugged. It was a longshot anyway.

“Carol,” Hal started. He hesitated a moment. “What happened to that Sinestro guy? It looked like he was your mentor or something.” 

“It’s…complicated.”

“Are you okay? You don’t need me to go beat him up, right?”

It had the effect he wanted. Carol laughed and shook her head. “He betrayed me and the entire Green Lantern Corps. But I’m working on it. I’m not giving up on him.”

“Yeah, that sounds like you,” Hal said fondly.

Carol set him down outside his apartment building and scanned the area for any sign of alien life. “It’s all clear.” She flew back up and hovered above him. “See you soon, Hal.”

Hal waved her goodbye and she headed back to her team.

\--

Life didn’t go back to normal.

Hal’s workplace had been hit by the invasion and there wasn’t a job to go back to. The Justice League helped clean up most of the mess and reconstruction was planned to start soon.

Hal mostly sat on his couch and ate all the chips in his cupboards.

A week after the battle, there was a knock on the door. Hal opened it, expecting his ancient neighbor, and got Carol instead.

“Hey!” Hal said, delighted. She said that she’d see him soon, but he thought it would be a few months before she had time to pop in.

She smiled and stepped over the threshold. She saw the piles of crumbled chip bags. “I see you’re taking care of yourself.”

“Didn’t you hear? Aliens invaded. A few chips don’t seem that important in comparison.”

Carol rolled her eyes and leaned against his dining room table. “I guess I missed it.”

Hal mirrored her position. “Not that I’m happy to see you, what are you doing here?”

“I do want to catch up, in a little more detail this time. But first,” she said, pulling a stack of papers out of her purse. “How would you like a job testing planes for Wayne Enterprises.” She winked conspiratorially. “Seems like Bruce Wayne asked for you personally.”

Hal squinted his eyes. “Who’s Bruce Wayne?”

\--

He figured it out eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was an incredibly self-indulgent fic. 
> 
> The beginning plot was loosely inspired from Green Lantern: Secret Origins.


End file.
